India’s vegetable diversity declines as hybrids dominate
Summary and headline written by AI from the source article. How we work
Prabhakar Rao, a landscape architect and natural farmer in Bengaluru, India, is conserving seeds of heirloom vegetables as vegetable biodiversity declines across the country.
Researchers recently warned in PNAS that land use changes and market pressures threaten vegetable species, with about 24% of wild relatives of major vegetables at risk of extinction. They compiled a Global Vegetable Species Dataset listing 1,482 vegetables, but acknowledge the true number is likely much higher because many local varieties are unrecorded.
Vegetable biodiversity is important for food security, nutrition, and resilience to climate change, but it receives less attention than other areas like grain production. The World Vegetable Center and India’s National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources maintain genebanks with tens of thousands of vegetable accessions, but many local varieties remain unstudied. Experts note that a lack of visibility and culinary knowledge contribute to the problem.
Consumers are accustomed to uniform produce, and may not know how to prepare less common vegetables. Farmers face economic challenges, with low profitability and price volatility, making it difficult to invest in cultivating diverse crops. Initiatives like the North East Society for Agroecology Support in Meghalaya are working to integrate local, biodiverse foods into school meals, demonstrating one way to increase demand and support farmers.
